Status Updates From Shock Rock

Story 19 - 4 stars

"Addicted to Love" by Thomas Tessier

Spoiler alert
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This author read American Psycho, and it shows. It is a little too on the nose, but I did not mind it.

Story 18 - 5 stars!!!

"Hide in Plain Sight" by John L. Byrne

A rock star, who treats women like objects to use then throw away, meets a mysterious woman who seems different from the usual groupie.

I loved this one! The best stories in this collection are full stories that have a good buildup. a nice reveal, and a satisfying climax. This story delivered.

Story 17 - 5 stars (The best in the collection, so far).

"Weird Gig" by Ray Garton

A washed-up rock and roll band gets an odd request to put on a private concert at a once burned down coliseum. The band, Jagged Edge, can name their price, as long as they don't ask questions about the audience.

I loved this story so much. This is what I was hoping more of the stories would be like.

Story 16 - 2 stars

"Bootleg" by Mark Verkheiden

I normally love a haunted/cursed object story-this one is about a cursed vinyl record, but this story needed a little more development. It was too short to be effective.

Story 15 - 3 stars

"Reunion" by Michael Newton

An old hippie finds himself at a concert from his favorite band Star Child. Twenty years ago, Star Child held a concert that turned tragic. Will history repeat itself tonight?

This one was pretty good. I think I know what happened, but I am not 100% sure.

Story 14 - 4 stars

"Groupies" by Richard Christian Matheson

Trust Richard Matheson to write a nasty little piece of fiction that is grisly as hell. I needed more, but what we got was a grim piece of fiction that feels all too real. Well done!

Story 13 - 4 stars

"The Black '59" by Bill Mumy Peter David

I am always up for a story about haunted objects. This one is about a haunted guitar,

Story 12 - 1 star

"Bunky" by Rex Miller

Way too gimmicky. Trying to be cool but it is just cringey. Nope!

Story 11- 3 stars

"Heavy Metal" by R. Patrick Gates

I liked this story well enough, but it felt a bit gimmicky. An artist is tormented by the sounds of heavy metal music coming from a neighbor's ghetto blaster.

Story 9 - 3 stars

"Requiem" by Brian Hodge

This story had a lot of potential, but it was too short to be impactful. The story is about two people going to the plane crash site where a band was killed and experiencing a concert that is out of this world.

Story 9 - 4 stars

"Dedicated to the One I Loathe" by Michael Garrett

This story is about two cops that are investigating homicides involving an oldies radio station. I loved the premise of this, a mystery horror story. It just needed a little more development.

Story 8 - 2 stars
"Rites of Spring" by Paul Dale Anderson

A young couple attend a hypnotizing concert. Nothing of interest really happens in this story. I get its ties to pagan fertility rituals, but the story is too undercooked to be interesting.

Story 7 - 2 stars
"Voodoo Child" by Graham Masterson
This is your typical Faustian story involving Jimmi Hendrix. It is well-written but not terribly interesting.

Story 6 - 4 stars
"The Dead Beat Society" by Don D'Ammassa
This was a good, tight horror story about a haunted music video.

Story 5 - 5 stars
"Blood Suede Shoes" by Ronald Kelly

Teenybopper Ruby, who is self-conscious and unpopular gets a ride home from her rock and roll idol Rockabilly Reb. It is a ride that she will never forget.
I loved this story so much. It was the perfect length. It had a great premise and execution, and it had loads of creepy atmosphere.

Story 4 - 2 stars

"Vargr Rules" by Nancy A. Collins
A playboy named Varley goes to a metal bar in hopes of finding female company for the night. He is taken with an unusual woman who wears mirrored sunglasses. Is she the woman of his dreams or his nightmares?

This story was okay. It is a slowburn with a gnarly trajectory, but it is not terribly memorable.

Story 3 - 2 stars
"Odeed" by David J. Schow
Rock group Gasm plays their most memorable gig yet as their manager Nicky Powers looks on. I got the point of the story, and I appreciated the ending, but I felt like their should have been a reasonable break, maybe the next day after word of the gig got out, between the meat of the story and its ending. Otherwise the end just a felt a bit rushed,

Story 2 - 4.5 stars
"Bob Dylan, Troy Jonson, and the Speed Queen" by F. Paul Wilson
A young man, Troy Jonson, goes to Greenwich Village in the mid-60's to play rock and roll and seek a record deal. The crowd is digging the tunes he and his band are playing. What would people do if they knew that some of the tunes Troy and his band were playing were from the future?

Story One - 4 stars
"You Know They Got One Hell of a Band" by Stephen King
Stephen King loves a good story about a bickering couple taking a road trip together, getting lost, then finding themselves in a scary small town. This short story us a good example of that premise. Mary and Clark find themselves in a town called "Rock and Roll Heaven", where rock and roll is here to stay.